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Paul Amay, now 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Nov. 2011 for killing 19-year-old Mahopac High School grad Gloria Zhingri in an apartment attached to her parents home.
According to Putnam County Sheriff's statements and press releases directly after the murder, Amay, strangled and then stabbed his wife of a year. Her body was discovered by a sheriff's deputy found lying in the apartment after someone asked for a welfare check.
At the time of the murder, Amay was free on bail and awaiting deportation to Ecuador.
The investigation that followed found that Paul Amay was involved in a domestic dispute with his wife when he strangled Zhingri, dragged her body into the apartment and then stabbed her in the chest several times, the Sheriff's Office said.
Sheriff's officials said the couple's 18-month-old son was at the scene, but unharmed.
Amay fled but was arrested by Ossining police in a cab a day later.
At the time of his sentencing, Amay waived his right to appeal, but later filed court papers saying he was deprived of effective legal counsel.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court rejected Amay's claim in a decision filed on Wednesday.
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